WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration announced today that employers will now be exempt from the federal requirement to provide insurance coverage for contraception in their health insurance plans if it conflicts with their sincerely held religious or moral beliefs. This now limits a rule created under the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act that required that employers, including non-church religious organizations, must cover all forms of contraception, from birth control pills to abortion drugs and devices at no cost to the employees.

The Trump administration stated legal reasons for issuing two rules: one for religious and the other for moral objections. The administration acknowledges that the Affordable Care Act law did not provide protection for nonreligious, moral conscientious objections as required by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Both rules would take effect as soon as they are on display at the office of the Federal Register.

Liberty Counsel filed an amicus brief in 2016 on behalf of Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of nuns dedicated to serving the elderly poor, whose case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. Little Sisters of the Poor argued that the ObamaCare mandate violated their free exercise rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The U.S. Supreme Court sent several cases representing Christian colleges, ministries and businesses dealing with religious exemptions to the ObamaCare contraception and abortion drugs and devices mandate back to lower courts to get the sides to reach a compromise.

Liberty Counsel filed the first private lawsuit against ObamaCare the day it was signed into law in 2010.

“The Trump Administration’s decision to reverse the federal requirement for employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception and abortion drugs and devices upholds the religious freedom for Little Sisters of the Poor, and many other nonprofit organizations, who cannot and will not participate in killing innocent children,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “The federal government should never force Christian ministries to violate their faith or face crippling fines in order to continue their mission. We commend President Trump for fulfilling his promise to uphold the religious liberties of these organizations under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” said Staver.

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.